Appendix_1_-_SOW.pdf

APPENDIX 1: OHCAccess System Architecture

Network Architecture

The OHCAccess system is hosted on a private, Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) network.

The network is TSA-owned, but operated and managed by the incumbent service provider.

Third-party Application Service Providers (ASP) and other external systems, with which OHCAccess interfaces, connect through the internet and encrypted VPN tunnels.

Software Architecture

The OHCAccess system supports several software applications for use by TSA employees, candidates seeking employment opportunities with TSA, TSA HR Specialists, and OHCAccess end users. As a system of systems, the OHCAccess software architecture is comprised of partner systems, partner components, subsystems and subsystem components. The partner systems and subsystems are described in Table 1 below.

Table 1: OHCAccess System and Subsystem Descriptions

Subsystem Name (Acronym) Description

Web Applications Subsystem (WAS) The Web Application Subsystem (WAS) refers to the set of web-based OHCAccess software applications that are accessible through the end user’s internet browser. Although some of these OHCAccess’ web-based applications reside on the public domain and can be accessed by TSA employees or job candidates, most are hosted on the TSA private domain and can only be accessed by TSA or OHCAccess end users.

Business Orchestration Subsystem

(BOS)

The Business Orchestration Subsystem (BOS) refers to components of the OHCAccess software architecture that provide business process engines and workflow capability. These components allow data to flow through an orchestrated process with transition rules.

The TSA candidate hiring process and personnel actions process are supported by this subsystem.

Common Services Subsystem (CSS) The Common Services Subsystem (CSS) contains a variety of backend components that support other systems, interfaces, or operations.

Data and Reporting Subsystem (DRS) The Data and Reporting Subsystem (DRS) is comprised of the OHCAccess Integrated Data Warehouse (IDW) and Reporting components described below.

OHCAccess

2 | P a g e

Subsystem Name (Acronym) Description

Infrastructure Subsystem (INF) The Infrastructure Subsystem (INF) is comprised of various tools and software applications used to manage, monitor, and operate the physical, logical, security, and software architecture.

Major Functional Subsystems and Components

There are four major subsystems and six major functional components of the OHCAccess system that support 85-90% of OHCAccess service delivery and operations. The Web Applications, Business Orchestration, and Data and Reporting subsystems provide core system functionality for end to end OHCAccess services. The Candidate Dashboard, within the Web Applications Subsystem, supports TSA job candidates as they begin their potential career with TSA. The Integrated Hiring System, within the Business Orchestration Subsystem, supports TSA job candidates throughout the hiring process. The Request for Personnel Actions workflow system, also within the Business Orchestration Subsystem, supports new hires and employees with the processing of various personnel actions throughout their TSA career. The Data and Reporting Subsystem supports the Integrated Data Warehouse for employee HR data storage and retrieval for analytical and planning purposes. Each major functional component is described in detail below.

Candidate Dashboard (CDB)

The Candidate Dashboard (CDB) is a .Net and Java based website that is connected to the OHCAccess Oracle applications transactional database. The CDB is accessible to TSA job candidates on the public domain. For competitive job opportunity announcements, the site requires candidates to register and create a user account to obtain log in credentials. Upon successful registration and account creation, the CDB enables TSA job candidates to view their progress in the hiring process from receipt of application through onboarding. Additionally, a variety of online tools are available to assist candidates in completing prerequisite forms via a forms wizard, accept tentative job offers, and review and agree to final job offer terms.

Integrated Hiring System (IHS)

The Integrated Hiring System (IHS) is a commercial off the shelf (COTS) business rules and workflow engine software solution developed with .Net, Java, and Metastorm. Central to the IHS is the OHCAccess Oracle applications transactional database, which is used to store candidate transactional data. The IHS manages the flow of TSA job candidate data from receipt of applications to final job offers. Candidate data from all job types, with the exception of Transportation Security Executive Service (TSES), are stored and processed within the IHS.

Additionally, a variety of tools have been developed that allow end users to access, track, manage, and maintain candidate data throughout the hiring process. The most significant tools are: the Transportation Security Officer (TSO) Certificates (Cert) on Demand (COD) tool and the Offer Management Interface (OMI).

3 | P a g e

Transportation Security Officer (TSO) Certificates (Cert) on Demand (COD) Tool

The Transportation Security Officer (TSO) Certificates (Cert) on Demand (COD) tool provides a mechanism for Airport Hiring Managers to request certs anytime, make hiring selections, and record a candidate’s acceptance or declination of a job offer. The tool enables airports to use visually enhanced screens to view their ready pool counts and a candidate’s progression through the selection, job offer, and on-boarding stages of the hiring process. When certs are requested and issued to eligible ready pool candidates, they are issued based on the ratings of Best Qualified, Highly Qualified, and Qualified; and veterans’ preference eligibility. Airport Assessment Structured Interview scores and the Screen Object Recognition Test (SORT) portion of the Computer Based Testing (CBT) results are used to determine each candidate’s category ranking. Airports are able to filter full-time and part-time selection certificates by gender to help facilitate gender-specific selections under Bona Fide Occupational Qualification (BFOQ) hiring in support of same-gender pat down requirements. The tool also enforces business rules to ensure airports do not inadvertently violate the priority call order and bypass candidates with veterans’ preference eligibility.

Offer Management Interface (OMI)

For selected Management, Administrative, and Professional (MAP) or Executive candidates, the Offer Management Interface (OMI) automates the hiring process from the point of a candidate’s selection off a Certificate of Eligibles (Cert) through new hire onboarding (or internal competitive reassignment or promotion). Each stage in the process requires an action to be performed by an appropriate processor, such as a TSA HR Specialist or an OHCAccess Recruitment and Hiring Service Center (RHSC) Specialist. This includes using a salary tool to properly set new salaries that meet all TSA guidelines, and enables the collection of appropriate TSA approval forms. The OMI also provides an automated mechanism for the OHCAccess Recruiting and Hiring team to initiate and send standardized Tentative and/or Final Job offers to candidates. Additionally, the OMI provides an automated pre-hire and drug testing interface used for initiating these processes and recording results for candidates required to progress through these gates.

Request for Personnel Action (RPA)

The term Request for Personnel Action (RPA) is used by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to describe personnel actions affecting federal employees. The OHCAccess RPA application is a commercial off the shelf (COTS) role-based workflow engine built and configured using Metastorm. The RPA application sits on top of the OHCAccess Oracle applications transactional database, which is used to store employee personnel transactional data. There are three major functions within the RPA application: Personnel Action Requests, Awards tool, and the Exit Clearance tool.

1. Personnel Action Requests

Personnel Action Requests are general transactions that affect the position, pay, location, or any other attribute in a TSA employee’s record as it affects or is affected by

4 | P a g e his/her employment with TSA. Personnel Action Requests within the RPA application are presented as electronic versions of the SF52 forms grouped by type of action (e.g.

Position Changes, Appointments, etc). Within each group, the forms allow the users to select the appropriate OPM Nature of Action (NOA) codes to represent the action being taken. Forms are then routed through appropriate workflows depending on the types of action being taken. Authorized users are placed in roles that have permissions to perform tasks on specific actions as they move through the workflow. The tasks are generally different depending on the user’s role and stage in the workflow. For example, an HR Specialist may have a role that allows him/her to initiate actions and edit various fields, but does not allow him/her to approve the action. The RPA application also allows users to manage their work via “To Do” and “Worked” Lists. Additionally, a robust case folder search capability allows users to search for active, inactive, or archived actions. Several other unique features within the Personnel Action Requests functionality include:

Auto-population of employee data received from the Integrated Data Warehouse that helps to reduce the amount of information that needs to be entered by users, and helps to ensure transaction completeness and accuracy.

Automated business rules for generating TSO D to E Band Promotion actions based on employee length of service.

Automatic archival of RPAs that can be validated as applied at the Department of Agriculture’s National Finance Center (NFC).

Several built-in validation functions and alerts for submission deadlines, business rules, and constraints.

2. Awards Tool

The RPA Awards tool provides TSA Hiring Specialists/Managers with the capability to initiate individual or group award requests through an easy to use, highly flexible form interface within the RPA. The RPA Awards tool also incorporates a number of business rules to further simplify the process of completing the form as well as ensuring accuracy.

The user is presented with a roster of employees for their location(s) and can select one or more individuals to receive monetary or time off awards. This eliminates the need for Hiring Specialists to create individual RPAs for each award recipient. The requests are automatically routed to the appropriate TSA approver and then submitted directly to NFC. Built-in validation and business rules eliminate the need for additional processing via the OHCAccess Exit Clearance Tool.

3. Exit Clearance Tool

The RPA Exit Clearance Tool was developed to capture requirements such as the return of government property and other related obligations, and auto-generate the separation RPA to the appropriate HR Specialist’s work queue. The Exit Clearance tool, used by the Designated Clearance Official (DCO), provides tracking capabilities and immediate notification to program offices to terminate access and close the accounts of

5 | P a g e departing employees in a timely manner. The tool enables the DCO to track Program Office progress in completing these tasks.

Integrated Data Warehouse (COTS – IBM Datastage, Oracle)

The OHCAccess Integrated Data Warehouse (IDW) is a repository of current and historical OHCAccess operational data. The repository is maintained in the Oracle Database Management System.

Supporting OHCAccess Operations – The IDW supports OHCAccess operations in a variety of ways. The RPA system uses data from the IDW to auto-fill RPA forms with employee demographic data in real time. The IHS uses data from the IDW to validate and fill out application information received from one of its applicant intake system partners. The Exit Survey system also uses information from the IDW for generating reports.

Data flows into IDW – The IDW currently loads 60 separate streams of data from various sources. These are loaded on a daily, weekly, biweekly, and monthly basis. Records date back from August 2005 to the present day. In other instances, there are records that date back to 2002.

Other Functional Components

OHCAccess Website

The OHCAccess website is an informational HTML site within the Web Application Subsystem that is accessible to TSA employees on the public domain. The website contains general information regarding TSA Human Resources including benefits, links to other government or TSA websites, and employee resources.

HCInsight Portal

The HCInsight Portal is a SharePoint site within the Web Application Subsystem that is available to the TSA HR Community and OHCAccess employees. Access to the site requires an active OHCAccess account. The portal serves as the gateway to various software applications supporting Recruiting and Hiring; Personnel, Payroll and Benefits Processing; and others. The portal also contains reference materials for TSA HR professionals such as: job aids, user guides, training, and OHCAccess communications materials.

Hiring Dashboard

The Hiring Dashboard is a .Net based web tool that is connected to the OHCAccess Oracle applications transactional database. The Hiring Dashboard is accessible to TSA HR specialists (located at airports or offices) via the HCInsight Portal for use in tracking the status of their competitive job opportunity announcements. The Hiring Dashboard provides insight into the number of applicants and selections made on certificates of eligibility. The application security features restrict access based on the user’s location, so that he/she may not view the data for other locations unless authorized.

6 | P a g e

RHSC Dashboard

The RHSC Dashboard is accessible to OHCAccess Recruiting and Hiring Service Center (RHSC) personnel via the HCInsight Portal. The RHSC Dashboard contains a variety of .Net based tools and is connected to the OHCAccess Oracle applications transactional database to assist the RHSC team in supporting and managing TSO candidates who are in the hiring process. These tools allow the RHSC team to perform tasks such as reversals, name or other demographic information updates, review expirations on assessments or medical results, and track candidate status.

FAM Dashboard

The FAM Dashboard is accessible to FAMS HR Specialists and OHCAccess RHSC personnel via the HCInsight Portal. The FAM Dashboard contains the FAM Cert Tool, FAMS Field Day Interface and FAMS Build File Upload. All the tools are developed in .Net and Java; and are connected to the OHCAccess Oracle applications transactional database.

TSA Jobs Website

The TSAJobs Website is an informational HTML website that provides information to candidates seeking employment with TSA. The site hosts the realistic job preview videos for TSO and FAMS positions which allow potential candidates to view a “day in the life” scenario of these positions in order to set expectations for the duties of a TSO or FAMS employee. The Candidate Dashboard can also be accessed from the TSA Jobs Website.

Surveys

OHCAccess maintains an HTML survey application to support the online TSA National Exit Survey. The survey application connects to the OHCAccess Oracle applications transactional database to anonymously store data collected from survey respondents who voluntarily participate. The application automatically generates an email invitation to TSA employees who are separating from the agency to participate in the online TSA National Exit Survey with a random, one-time use password and link to the survey.

Retirement Calculator (COTS - Econsys)

The Retirement Calculator is a COTS software application, provided by Econsys, that is hosted on the OHCAccess website. The Retirement Calculator provides TSA employees with self-service calculations for their Federal retirement annuity, Social Security entitlement and Thrift Savings Plan benefit. Additionally, if employees are currently enrolled in CSRS or CSRS Offset and returning to Federal service within one year after separation, employees may make comparisons between CSRS or Offset with FERS enrollment. The software application also provides eSeminar which is an employee self-service presentation that parallels a "live" retirement seminar. It is intended to enhance an employee's awareness of Federal retirement related topics as well as provide important personal financial management information.

Additionally, the software application provides the Federal Benefits Maximizer which allows TSA employees to create different scenarios based on their retirement plans and investing

7 | P a g e strategies, including TSP Fund allocation. FBM runs a simulation with at least 1,000 trials and presents a summary to help employees decide if a retirement scenario is likely to be successful.

Document Scanning and Workflow (COTS – Kofax)

The OHCAccess Document Scanning and Workflow solution is a COTS software application provided by Kofax. The Document Scanning and Workflow solution supports both backroom mail functionality as well as transfer of required personnel information to the electronic Official Personnel Folder (eOPF) that OPM maintains for all federal employees.

External Interface Adapter

The OHCAccess External Interface Adapter component is a COTS software application provided by Kapow Technologies. This is an interface tool that connects RPA to EmpowHR which is the front end processing system for NFC. The adapter retrieves RPA transaction data from the OHCAccess Oracle applications database and, through the use of “robot-like” scripts, enters the transactions into EmpowHR. The tool simulates user entry so it establishes an internet connection to EmpowHR, logs into the front end interface, and inputs each transaction into the appropriate interface in EmpowHR.

Web Services (.NET)

OHCAccess Web Services are developed in .NET to provide a real-time data transfer between IHS and our partner systems: Monster Government Solutions (MGS), Comprehensive Health Services (CHS) and Performance Assessment Network (PAN).

Digital Signatures (COTS – Gradkell)

The Digital Signatures component is utilized by the Candidate Dashboard as part of the forms wizard feature for candidates submitting various forms required for background, credit checks, and previous federal employment reviews. The digital signature component utilizes the credentials used by the candidate to log into the Candidate Dashboard to serve as the verification method for digitally signing the required forms.

Reporting (COTS – SAP Business Objects)

End users typically access the IDW by using the Business Objects reporting tool which can be accessed through the HCInsight Portal. The user is given role based access, and logs in using a web browser to run standard reports that dynamically refresh data from the IDW when they are run. Only those reports to which the user has access are made available, and the data generated within the report is filtered based on the user’s access levels. There are currently around 70 reports available within the system. These reports incorporate tables, charts, and graphs. There are over 23,000 fields representing different areas of operation (personnel, payroll, benefits, time and attendance, personnel actions, Customer Service Center, hiring, medical testing, background checks, etc.) available within the database from which the reports can be constructed.

8 | P a g e

In addition to running standard reports, users with the appropriate access can also create and run their own ad hoc queries. Structures (named Universes) have been built within Business Objects to allow the user to directly address and use database fields in a business friendly manner and construct their own queries. This allows the users to query the data for specific metrics that are not addressed by the standard reports. Typically, end users are given access to the datamarts and are able to use the integrated subject specific data fields. Business Objects allows the users to construct, run, edit, save, and even share these queries through simple drag and drop actions. No coding is required. Users can directly run ad hoc queries against over 3500 fields within the integrated datamarts.